The spirit of freedom

It was a riot of colours on the Mount Carmel College campus as ‘Freedom Diaries: India@70’ kicked off last week. The area wore a festive look as girls decked up in their ethnic best and performances and events could be seen all around.

The first event in the year-long celebrations was ‘India's Haatbeat’ which was in the nature of a mela, complete with authentic cuisine from different parts of India, handicrafts, folk dances, and competitions in kite-flying, lagori, hopscotch etc. The day started off with an introductory talk by Dr Suma, a teacher, who explained the whole concept of ‘Freedom Diaries’ and what the college was planning to do throughout the year. This was followed by the lighting of the lamp by Cine actor Anu Prabhakar alongwith the Principal, the Sister Superior and others.

Anu Prabhakar spoke at length about the value of education and how it is essential for girls to have at least a basic degree. The inspiring speech also focussed on facing the challenges that the girls would encounter in life ahead. The actor related these things to freedom of expression and freedom of knowing that one can do something and stand on their own feet at any part of life.

The speech was followed by a whole series of dance and other performances at different venues on the campus. The girls showcased different dance forms from different parts of the country like Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab etc. The mela also had small shops set up by outsiders where hand made products and ‘desi’ food was sold.

The girls could be seen enjoying themselves thoroughly. Says Niveda, a student in the college, “The event is awesome. We were waiting for a long time for this ethnic day, to see the wonderful programmes and how well-dressed everyone is.”

Devrithi added, “Everyone is very enthusiastic. The dances were the best part and even the audience could be seen keeping pace with the drummers who had been brought in for this function.”

Asked about what freedom means to them, many girls came up with poignant replies.  Says Nisha, a first year MCom student, “For me, freedom means being independent and not depending on anyone for anything.”

Her friend, Karjum, added, “It is the freedom to be myself, freedom to do anything I want, freedom to express myself. Basically, I want to be free from the fact that I am a girl and I am not allowed to do certain things. ”

There will be a series of lectures and programmes conducted by different departments, which will culminate next year — the 70th year of Independence.